Of course it is necessary for medical personnel, police, the fire department, and hospitality employees to work on such holidays. However, department stores don't need to be open except for corporate and shareholder greed.

This. I voted "Outrageous" because really, the whole Black Friday insanity is bad enough. I am so incredibly sick of the climate of corporate greed that is just getting worse and worse with each passing year. "Go shopping!" is NOT the cure for all that ails Western Civilization.

I also have problems with people going to the movies on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and people having to work on those days, too. You can't watch TV at home for ONE day, so people who have to work crap jobs can have a day off?

Of course, I worked retail for many years, and few things are more horrible than holiday shoppers, and that December 24th shift. For 7 years, holidays were nothing but a gauntlet of horror, and I'm sure if I were still in retail, I'd be stuck working Thanksgiving as well. And frankly, there is no reason to shop on Thanksgiving Day.

I also have problems with people going to the movies on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and people having to work on those days, too. You can't watch TV at home for ONE day, so people who have to work crap jobs can have a day off?

I'm one of those people, every Thanksgiving and Christmas we go to the movies. Can I watch TV at home, of course! I often do! When I was a kid it was a way to get me out of the house for a bit. As an adult, it's just a nice tradition. A lot of new movies come out on/around holidays.

Do you think those who work in hotels are making wonderful wages and treated lovely? I sure as heck didn't. Can people really not stay home ONE day so people who work crappy hospitality jobs can have a day off?

Casinos and bars are open too. I'm sure bartenders and card dealers would like this ONE day off. Especially since as we all know EVERYONE celebrates the same holiday and has lots of family they'd like to be with.

If somebody doesn't work at the mall then the only way they would be finishing their pie at the mall would be if they chose to go there. As far as employees, I have mixed feelings. I know that at our local Gap, they open 8 pm Thursday and stay open until Friday night. Employees were encouraged to sign up for which "holiday" shifts they'd prefer but they knew they were expected to work sometime during that time frame. They also knew working Thursday meant extra pay. Thursday evening/night were the first slots to be filled.

Some people are single and don't have family or even close friends living close by. They might prefer to be at work. Other people get together the day before or the day after. For others it does seem awful that they have to work while somebody, somewhere who is unemployed is thinking they'd work just about any job, any time, any day.

I think it is a fallacy to assume all workers are upset about working or that all workers want to work. I think it is presumptuous to pronounce what people "should" be doing with all or part of that day and to assume that they all live a life that allows them to do what they "should" on any predetermined day. I also think that it would be nice if we could work on be thankful even if we are at work, with family, alone, etc. but I do realize that can be a major challenge.

I am one of the retail workers that has to work at 8pm on Thanksgiving. Honestly, I am not entirely sure what to think about the whole thing. I really need the money, but I am really debating about trying to make it to our usual late lunch. I really appreciate reading through the posts and the support that many are giving for the retail workers. We are really not sure what to expect when we open the doors. My manager thinks that it will be really busy right away and will die down by 2am. We will see.

I'm not upset that everyone has to work. If someone *wants* to work, fine.

What I get upset about is that for retail workers especially, there is no holiday at Thanksgiving any more. And I'm wondering when Christmas will become a retail day as well.

I don't understand why most of the rest of the US gets a holiday and retail workers don't. There's no need to shop on Thanksgiving. If someone wants a day off to sleep or go hiking or watch a marathon of old TV shows, that's as valid a reason as getting together with family.

Not trying to dictate what they *should* be doing, just wishing they had the day off, as I will, to do whatever they darn well please.

I like holidays.I like days off. I just wish everyone could enjoy them.

I started making a list of all the people who work on holidays and it was a pretty large number of people. All of the bars are open (so bartenders and servers), many restaurants, the movie theaters, the gas station/convenience stores, casinos, police and fire departments, emergency departments, hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living centers, grocery stores (for at least part of the day), call centers for online shopping (I have a friend who works for Amazon and she has worked every Thanksgiving for the past 10 years along with a ton of other people) and I'm sure there are many, many more that I'm not thinking of.

Most of those people don't earn much if any more than the workers in the stores. Nursing home aides, food service, housekeeping all have to be done and those are pretty low paid, high stress jobs. Mostly, it is office workers and people who work for the schools, local government workers who get Thanksgiving off.

Which is to say, that this change just seems to be the way things are going nowadays and that changes almost always cause stress while they are happening. It used to be pretty much everyone cooked/baked for Thanksgiving. Now people eat out, even in smaller towns because the restaurants are open.

I don't go out to shop on Black Friday and I won't be shopping on Thanksgiving, but it is because I am not interested, not because I care one way or the other if the stores are open or not. I expect my grandchildren (assuming I ever have any) will grow up thinking it is normal for everything to be open on Thanksgiving.

I have to wonder how many customers really want this vs retailers just looking to have more frenzied shoppers.

If shoppers don't want it, then they don't have to go. No one is herding people to stores. If we criticize corporate greed, let's also look at the other side of the equation, at the people who are pushing, pulling and running for that $20 DVD player.

A few years ago, our local malls decided to do a 33hr shopping marathon on Christmas Eve: the malls would open at 9am the day before and remain open until 6pm on Christmas Eve (we traditionally celebrate on Christmas Eve). What happened? Nothing much, few shoppers showed up despite the huge marketing hype and they haven't done it again.

My problem with this is simple - People are going to get hurt and possibly die because of this stupidity. It isn't working a holiday I have a problem with. It is stirring up this chaos were people are crushed to death against doors and trampled so someone can get a discounted TV.

If you object to this behavior not showing up on Thanksgiving and Black Friday is not enough - boycott them year around and let them know why - until they fix this.

I'll be with family both Thursday and Friday. My gifts will be purchased from small local business, artists if at all possible.

Lots of people have to work on thanksgiving day and christmas day (not just safety and health care workers), so I really don't understand the outrage.

In addition, there are many, many people who want to work the holidays because of the extra pay involved.

Finally, the "it's a day for FAMILIES thing" <--- this assumes (1) all people working on thanksgiving have families (2) all people working on thanksgiving have families they want to celebrate (3) all people working on thanksgiving celebrate thanksgiving.

This. I don't agree with employers who don't give their employees a choice, but there were certainly times in my life when I lived far from home on some holiday, couldn't make it back, and could really use the money. If a shopper doesn't like the practice, they can stay home, and if enough people do, then it won't be profitable anymore for the stores to be open then and they'll stop. But that's the only thing that'll make that happen.

I can enjoy the adrenaline of a good Black Friday crowd, but I'm not up for the Thursday shopping; like I said earlier, that's when I sleep off my turkey and pie.

It's funny. I have been seeing a lot of anger on relative's Facebook pages about this, but we have a tradition in our family of going to the movies on T-day and Christmas. There was never any rage about those poor theater employees that have to work. Why are retail workers so different?

Yep. I guess no one here has ever gone to see a movie during Thanksgiving or Christmas. lol. I know I have and I plan to do it again next Thursday!

I don't mind places being open who have enough employees who want to work. Not everybody celebrates the same holidays, and some do but they want/need the extra pay. It crosses into "Okay, now I think it's wrong." when people are told "You're on the schedule. Be here or turn in your resignation." at an establishment that doesn't need to be open. That's not right.

At the store I worked in they started a new thing a few years before I left. They had one store open all day on Christmas, staffed entirely of volunteers. I thought that was great. They actually had more employees sign up than spots for them, so the 2nd year they opened 3 stores. Cool. The 3rd year they opened every store from something like 8am to 4pm and asked for one volunteer to cover each department (it could be anyone, as long as each area had someone) and three checkers. Hmmm. The 4th year it was decided that every store would be open, every department would have at least one regular employee on staff, and the department managers couldn't volunteer because their salary was too high and corporate didn't want to pay them for holidays. My manager confided in me that the boss told him to "strongly encourage" me to be our volunteer since my husband had to work anyway (and where, exactly would my kids be? Oh not his problem!). Yep, that's where I thought we were headed. That was the last year I worked there so who knows what they do now.

As for the customers who shop, etc. on holidays, hey I don't begrudge them going to a place that's open and staffed by people who want to be there. I did, however, resent having to be in at 5am on Thanksgiving, under threat of being written up if I didn't show, so people could yell at me because we were out of turkeys. And I'm sorry but I wanted to smack all the people who'd say "I feel so sorry for you that you have to work. It isn't right." Hello?! If nobody shopped the stores wouldn't bother opening, right? We have to be here because you choose to be here. If you want to shop, shop, but show some appreciation for the people who are at work so that you can run out for that extra tub of cool whip when the first one didn't quite last through seconds on pumpkin pie, and realize that our dinner was a "this sucks but we'll make the most of it" potluck in the break room.

Finally, take a good look at some of the stores that brag they're closed holidays "so our employees can enjoy the day with their families", but open back up at midnight for the black friday sale. What they don't advertise is that a bunch of employees have been at work since 4pm Thanksgiving day to set up those sales. They may be "closed" but they are not unstaffed!

This year my husband has worked on every family occasion, birthdays/anniversaries, Easter, 4th of July, he will work Thanksgiving and we just found out today he will work Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Oh! And Hogmanay and New Years Day.. He's salaried so there's no overtime. We just have to suck it up and get on with it, at least he has a job.